Car-starter



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G. T. GLBAVELAND.

GAR STARTER.

No. 416,994. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

CALEB T. OLEAVELAND, OF KINGSTON, NEV YORK.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,994, dated December 10, 1889.

Application iiled April 23, 1889. Serial No. 308,291. (No model.)

To all wil/0111, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, CALEB T. OLEAVELAND, of Kingston, in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Car-Starter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to car-starters, the object of the invention being` to provide an attachment for tramway or street cars, wherein the parts shall be so arranged that the preliminary pull of the horses will be brought to bear with increased eiect upon the forward axle of the car, a further object of the invention being to relieve the horses from the shock or jar incident to the initial pull.

To the ends above named the invention consists, essentially, of a ratchet arranged for connection with the car-axle, a pawl mounted in a swinging frame and arranged to engage the ratchet, cables or chains connected to said frame, one of said cables or chains being connected to a spring, while the other is connected to a transverse draft-lever, all as here.- inafter fully explained, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of my improved car-starter. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail view on line @c .r of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the construction of the ratchet. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the connection between the axle and the rear end of the stop or limit pin frame, and Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the arrangement of the pawl and its supporting arm or lever.

In the drawings, 10 represents a ratchet that is made in sections a and b, both sections being flanged at c to receive bolts 11, by means of which the ratchet sections are clamped to the car-axle 12. In addition to the flanges c, the ratchet-sections are formed with laterally-extending seinicircular flanges d, which, when the parts are clamped to the axle, form bearing-sleeves upon which a box or housing 14 is mounted. This box or housn ing 14 is provided with laterally-extending flanges c, which t against one-half of the bearing-sleeve and extend forward beyond said sleeve, there to receive boxes 15, that are held to place by straps 16, said straps being u aperto red to receive tap-bolts 17, that engage the forwardly-extending projections of the ho u sin g-iian ges.

NVithin the housing 1-l-, l pivotally mount a lever 1S, the forward end of said lever being bifurcated to receive a pawl 19, that is pivotally mounted between the members of the bifurcated-lever end. The lower rear end of the lever 1S is bent inwardly, in order that it may at times bear against an anti-friction roll or pin 20, supported by a frame 21. The frame 21 consists'of a bar f, to the forward end of which there are connected laterally and forwardly extending bars g and g', and to the bars of the frame there are bolted hooklike clips 23, that engage the car-axles, as illustrated, the clip carried by the bar f engaging the rear axle, while the clips carried by the bars g g engage the forward axle at either side of the liousing-iianges, as shown.

The upper face of the housing 14 is segmental and concentric with the axis ol' the shaft to which the housing is connected, and in this upper face there are formed two grooves 7i and fi, adapted to receive cables or chains 24 and 25, the cable or chain 24 being secured to the forward end of the housing and to a spring 3G, said spring being a leaf-spring, a coilspring, or any other proper form of springsuch, for instance, as that shown in the drawings. The cable or chain 25 is connected to the rear end of the housing 14 and to a transverse draft-lever 2G, that is pivotally connected to one of the car-sills, the opposite end of the lever riding beneath the opposite sill and within a housing formed by a strap 27, the central portion of the lever being upheld by a second strap 22.

To the center of the lever 2G, I connect the draw-bar 29, and the forward end of this bar 29 is supported by a suspending-arm 30, the lower end of which is bifurcated to receive the draw-bar, the upper end of the arm 30 being connected to a swivel-eye 31, that is snpported in any proper manner in advance of IOO the dash-board, the arrangementbeing such that the draw-bar may swing forward and back and laterally, this latter movement bcing necessary when the car is passing about a curve.

From the construction above described it will be seen that when the car is at rest and the draw-bar freed from tension the several parts of the starter will assume the positions in which they are represented in the drawings. Then if the horses be started forward the lever 26 will move in the direction of the arrow shown in connection therewith in Fig. 1, the housing 141 being drawn forward inthe direction of its arrow against the tension of the spring 36, and as the housing moves tor# ward the eccentric section of thelever 18 will bear upon the anti-friction roll or pin 2O and the lever will be tilted to aposition such as to carry the pawl 19 into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 10, and any continued pull upon the Vpart of the horses will cause the axle to revolve in a proper direction to advance the car. After the car has been started the lower end ot the lever 2G will pass above the anti-friction roll or pin 20, and the lever will drop back onto a stop or limit pin Z, carried by the housing 14, and in so dropping back the pawl 19 will be freed from engagement with the ratchet lO, this arrangement being adopted in order to prevent the continual clicking and all undue wear of the Aparts. Then when the tension on the drawbar is relaxed the spring 86 will return the parts to the position in which they are shown in the drawings7 the lever 18 being guided to the rear of the anti-friction roll or pin 2O by an inclined-faced projection n, formed at its lower end.

By housing the lever 2G within the loops formed by the straps 27 and 28 I limit the forward movement of the lever, as will be readily understood.

By connecting the draw-bar with the spring 36, as hereinbefore set forth, I relieve the horses from the shock which they would otherwise experience if the connection between the draw-bar andthe car were an un yielding one, as will be readily understood. y

It will of course be understood that a duplicate of the construction hereinbefore described would be applied to the rear aXle of the car for use when the car is traveling in an opposite direction.

I'Iavingth us described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a ear-starter, the combination, with a ratchet-wheel arranged for connection with the car-axle, of a housing mounted to turn upon said axle, a lever and pawl mounted within the housing, cables or chains connected to thehousing, a spring'to which one of the cables is in turn connected, a draw-bar and connections, substantially as described, between the draw-bar and the other chain or cable, as and for the purpose stated.

2. In a car-starter, the combination, with a draw-bar, of an arm by which said bar is supported, a swivel-.eye to which the arm is pivotally connected, a pivotally-mounted transverse lever, to which the inner end of the drawbar is secured, a ratchet-wheel connected to the car axle, a housing mounted to turn about the axle, a lever mounted within the housing, a pawl pivotally connected to the lever and arranged to engage the ratchet, an anti-friction roll or pin, against which the lever at times bears, cables or chains connected to the housing, one of said cables being connected to the transverse lever, and a spring to which the other cable is connected, substantially as described.

3. In a car-starter, the combination, with the draw-bar 29, of an arm 30, to which the draw-bar is pivotally connected, a swiveleye 3l, to which the arm is connected, a transverse lever 2G, pivotally connected to one of the carsills, a strap 27, which supports the opposite lever end, a ratchet 10,k formed with bearing-flanges CZ and arranged for connection with the car-axle, a housing mounted upon the bearing-sections CZ and formed with a segmental face, a lever pivotally mounted within the housing, a pawl carried by the lever and arranged to engage the ratchet, a

pin or anti-friction roll 20, against which the lever at times bears, cables or chains 24 and 25, connected to the housing, the cable 25 bcing connected to the lever 26, anda spring 3G, to which the chain or cable 24 is connected, substantially as described.

CALEB T. CLEAVELAND.

Witnesses:

EDWARD KENT, Jr., EDGAR TATE.

TOO 

